Quick Launch

Lake White Water Levels On The RiseSpillway gates raised to allow for summer pool levels

Chillicothe (Thursday, April 27, 2017) – With work progressing toward improving the infrastructure at Lake White in Pike County, a key milestone in the dam rehabilitation and bridge replacement project has been met, and the lake will now be restored to summer pool.

In the last week, contractors for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)placed the final layer of roller-compacted concrete on the dam crest, thereby reinforcing the top of the spillway. With this and other safety measures in place, the spillway gates were raised today, April 27, to allow water levels at the lake to be restored to summer pool.

Along with the work at the spillway, progress continues to be made at the S.R. 104 bridge replacement, and crews will soon begin reconstructing the S.R. 552 intersection with S.R. 104, as well as realigning the C.R. 105 (Forest Hills Boulevard) junction with S.R. 104 and remediating a slip that occurred on the roadway.

While S.R. 551 has been closed throughout the project, S.R. 552 and Forest Hills Boulevard are scheduled for closure in mid-May. In addition, the state park boat ramp remains closed as it is located within the existing project work limits and is an area under control of the contractor during construction.

The Lake White project is a combined effort between ODNR and ODOT to rehabilitate the 4,200-foot earthen dam, replace the bridge on S.R. 104, and reconstruct the adjacent roadways and intersections at the Lake White State Park.

The project was extended through early summer of this year due to significant weather-related impacts that occurred during construction last year, as well as other unforeseen circumstances that affected the overall schedule. These included the slip on Forest Hills Boulevard, and a mechanical shutdown at the approved materials suppliers’ facilities in October.

Sunesis Construction was awarded a contract for approximately $31.7 million to complete the project, and the revised schedule for completion is slated for June 2017.

###

For more information, contact:Kathleen Fuller, ODOT Public Information Officer-- or --John Wisse, ODNR Public Information Officer1-740-774-88341-614-265-6755